Screen Digest predicts HD DVD vs. Blu-ray stalemate

The video format war currently has four possible outcomes, with a stalemate between the two being forecast by media researchers Screen Digest.

Screen Digest predicts that just under one third of total spending on video discs in the three key regions of US, Japan and Europe ($11 billion) will be spent on HD formats by 2010, pushing up revenues for total packaged media. The new HD formats are designed to accompany the shift in television services to high definition.

Ben Keen, Screen Digest chief analyst, said: 'Given the vested interests on either side, we believe that the most likely outcome at present is that the two formats will co-exist until they give way to affordable dual-format solutions but none of the other three scenarios can be completely ruled out.

Backers of Blu-ray Disc include Philips, Sony, Dell and Hewlett Packard (HP), while HD DVD has the support of Toshiba, NEC, Intel and Microsoft.